Chapter 67: Just This Once (3)

The body is a vast vessel.

And martial arts and magic are like the water that fills this vessel.

'The larger the vessel, the more water it can hold.'

That's why the foundation is important. The foundation is the expansion work that makes the vessel larger and stronger.

And I pride myself on having the largest vessel in this world.

Here, if the water poured by the world has its traits,

I have a body that can hold more water than anything else.

And I pride myself on knowing that vessel better than anyone else.

Traits.

I can't fill my vessel with them.

If so, it means that my body 'covered' by the status window is lacking.

The Unique Trait Eternity originally belonged to the Han Seojin, who became the Eternal Demon King and commanded resurrected corpses forever with it.

'I'm ready.'

To interfere with the subspace forcibly.

I close my eyes.

Calmly, I observe my body.

According to my imagination, a world unfolds within me.

A microcosm.

In that place called so, stars begin to rise.

All of them shone brilliantly.

A total of three stars.

Among them, there is one that shines particularly bright.

A blue star that seems to be eternal.

It was floating nobly in the universe.

'Is that eternity?'

I felt it as soon as I saw it.

That must be Eternity.

'Is this the power of time?'

It feels different from any power I've handled before. It seems eternally still, yet moving forward and, at times, rewinding.

It was hard to define.

'I think I need to study this a lot more.'

The Divine Thunderbolt applied with the attribute of destruction.

And the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique that breaks everything.

These two are my masterpieces, but I felt that Eternity that guy, seems even harder than those two.

'Forever' evolved to 'Eternity'.

It seems like it will give me tremendous power.

'And…'

Next to Eternity.

Two stars were orbiting like satellites next to it.

A gray star and a white star.

Though they shine less than Eternity, they still contain an enormous light.

Considering the potential they hold, it makes sense.

Each embodies the Heavenly Martial Body and Soul Origin Qi.

Those two are manifested as stars.

And next to them, there was a star with the shape of a dragon engraved on it.

The heart of a young dragon.

It was manifested as a star.

And next to it.

There was a colorless star.

Like a dead star, burnt black.

I could instinctively tell.

That it had transformed into a star with the Trait named Subspace.

'Is it because the status window is locked?'

I lightly tapped the star with the subspace trait.

But there was no response.

'No, that can't be.'

As if it refuses to respond, it remains unresponsive.

This is my mental world.

The mind and imagination of a man who has transcended twice. Assuming I fight here, I could easily overpower even the principal instantly.

An omnipotent sense was speaking to me.

This star is just asleep.

It thinks I will simply back down if it doesn't respond.

Huh.

Acting spoiled in a place like this.

I couldn't help but exert some force.

Krrrrrrk.

The sound of something getting crushed.

The black star began to crackㅡopen.

The crack that started from my hand spread across the entire star.

The surface cracked like an egg about to break.

'It's okay.'

Status Window.

A system created by the Celestial Gods.

I've done some research on this.

This much is fine.

It's necessary to apply this much shock to unlock this trait.

My capacity is not merely this much.

I can contain all this and more.

'So.'

No matter what you say, I must have this.

With that determination, I began to break the stars.

Crack crack.

The star splits apart.

Every surface, stained black, shattered, revealing a star that resembled a black sun.

And then.

[Trait, Subspace(B) is unlocked.]

"How have you been lately?"

"Huh?"

It was lunchtime, and I was using the staff cafeteria to eat.

Heo Yeji, with her pink hair and pink eyes, asked me.

Heo Yeji.

Raging Thunder, Heo Yoonji's younger sister.

However, she differs greatly from her sister in appearance, talent, and outward looks.

"Fine, I guess."

Heo Yeji and I eat together.

It's not that I'm being ostracized, but distinguishing the skilled ones among the professors ended up being just her and Alves.

'He became my student, though.'

Apart from ability, she has a good eye. She's also bold.

And above all, she teaches the kids well. When I miss a class, she alone teaches them well.

"Isn't it hard to handle the students?"

"So-so?"

To be honest, I'm also thinking that it's fortunate I'm in charge.

Have I grown attached to them?

If someone else were in charge of them, they wouldn't have been able to develop their talents fully.

"But why is that?"

"No, you just look tired."

"Really?"

Lately, I've had no time to sleep.

Because I've been busy researching time and space.

However I'm less tired by continuously using the Great Sky Dancing Divine Mantra.

Slurp.

I thought to myself as I wolfed down my meal.

'It's about time to sleep.'

Research on subspace was going better than expected and was quite fun.

Space-related abilities were tough to grasp, but this helped me understand space.

And one more thing.

The Divine Thunderbolt that I use.

It turned out to be quite related to space.

'I hadn't even considered that.'

A being.

In my second life, I created a spell to kill a being.

Divine Thunderbolt.

The lightning that splits stars was born then.

But the Divine Thunderbolt was a spell related to space.

It was a spell created to destroy everything by tearing through space.

Thanks to that, the research progressed quite smoothly.

[Trait, Subspace (B) changes into Space Blade (A).]

Could it be because it originated as a power to tear apart space?

The power known as subspace evolved into a force that slices through space. If it evolves a bit more, it might become the power to tear space, similar to the Divine Thunderbolt.

'But that's not very interesting.'

What's the point of creating the additional effects that Divine Thunderbolt has?

So, for now, I evolved it into Space Blade and stopped there.

To slice through space.

It allows for more exciting actions than normally possible.

I think even the ability to move through space normally isn't bad.

'But compared to spacial movement, Wind God's Steps is preferable.'

Wind God's Steps, which unfolds extremely, surpasses space itself.

On the other hand, there's Shrinking the Ground.

At its extreme, Wind God Steps fold space and move.

There's a reason I don't mess with Wind God's Steps. While I touch and modify all the martial arts and magic I've encountered to my style, Wind God's Steps is an exception.

'There's a better way, though.'

Someone can help transform Space Blade into something else and do something exciting.

The principal.

A person who has transcended with a space-related Unique Trait.

She must be the one who knows the most about space among the people I have known through four lives.

'But that's for the last…'

That person is not ordinarily suspicious.

Sometimes, the way she looks at me is chilling.

'Very familiar eyes, too.'

Heavenly Demon and the Duke of Destruction.

When those two looked at me, they had that kind of gaze—as if they had found a treasure in a world filled with trash.

I also know why she lost to me.

But honestly, if I were to speak frankly.

'She's not my type.'

That's the story.

Ssssssh.

The plane of space is sliced. The surrounding trees fell as if a sword had cut them.

'It seems quite useful, yet.'

Space Blade.

My new trait has been upgraded to A rank.

Time and space.

And creation.

The above three are not attributes that can be easily tampered with.

Each possesses an independent attribute and harbors different powers.

Other phenomena can be seen in nature, but these three cannot be seen in nature.

Should I say they are powers from a different dimension?

So, I came to this vacant lot to experiment with this and that.

'This is somewhat good and not good at the same time.'

Space Blade does not mix with Soul Origin Qi.

It is only used to tear space.

The moment Soul Origin Qi is used, the Space Blade crumbled.

'Moonlight.'

I assembled its traits following my memory. A bluish moonlight was created in my hand.

[Trait, Space Blade is activated.]

Moonlight and black light intermingle. Then, a slash in the shape of a half-moon was shot towards the tree.

'So it works with Moonlight.'

Is it because of the special nature of the mismatched grade possessed by the Soul Origin Qi?

Or perhaps it's because the power of the Soul Origin Qi comes from somewhere else.

'It was fine with Eternity, though.'

This was a problem that needed a bit of thought.

Beep! Beep beep!

My phone started to ring its alarm, signaling the time for the kids' classes.

'I should probably make the kids' classes a bit more intense.'

Because now there's an event called 'Exchange Battle.'

'Didn't they say we're going up against the Americans this time?'

I'm looking forward to it.

Because America is where the Celestial Gods live.

And the students who go there are said to be on par with the current golden generation of the Academy.

According to Yoo Eunchae, most of those there are similar to those here.

'It was said that even Seon Woohyeon felt threatened.'

Yoo Eunchae strangely praises Seon Woohyeon, but I don't think so.

There's something up his sleeve.

However, if we're talking about talent alone, many are above Seon Woohyeon. No, not just many.

Especially Yoo Seolrang, who lacks presence, is dangerously so.

But he can't be my student. I can only teach the basics, and he has to learn the rest from someone else.

'If he leaves, I'd like to find at least him a teacher.'

Even after spanning three lifetimes, few could become his master. Perhaps someone like King of Bloodshed, who tormented me for a week?

So, I roughly know how he should be nurtured.

It might be challenging to teach him various miscellaneous skills.

But with that level of talent, he'll manage somehow.

If I show him hell quickly, he'll try to win by any means.

But if he still loses…

'I definitely won't leave him be.'

Hell?

That's nothing special.

Plenty would call that hell if I say to roll in the mud until death.

So far, the training has been quite lenient, which must be deeply ingrained in their bones.

Yoo Eunchae quietly closed her eyes.

Since falling into this world, there has never been a moment of peace.

But lately, that phenomenon is getting worse.

'There's not just one or two dangerous enemies.'

It happened recently as well.

Viper Gang.

She moved a bit faster than Abel to raid them.

That was the most optimal condition to obtain the Elixir.

But then, the Sword Saint appeared there.

What would have happened if Han Seojin hadn't been there? With high probability, Abel and I, who faced the Sword Saint, would have been caught and wasted time.

'The difficulty is too high.'

So, she had to do her best.

So, she had to cling to Han Seojin's side by any means. He might not have all the answers, but he always shows something overwhelmingly powerful.

For that, she had to appeal her necessity.

However, getting what he wants is not easy. He seemed to have an indifferent gaze as if he had no interest in the mundane world.

The academy's students were talented, but Yoo Eunchae was always anxious. He seemed to carry an atmosphere that he would leave someday.

'It's still okay.'

Han Seojin, who shows interest in spatial traits.

So, Yoo Eunchae went out of her way to obtain one thing.

'Spatial Blade (A-).'

An extremely rare spatial attribute offensive type. And Harmony (B), which enables linkage with different attributes.

Honestly, Yoo Eunchae wants to master the Spatial Blade (A-) and pass on the Harmony (B) that allows linkage with other attributes.

'I must endure.'

What catches his eye is more important than money.

Because money can be found somehow.

However, it is regrettable.

The exchange event will start soon.

It begins there.

A kind of turning point that can save this world.

Because the successor of the Demon King, who destroyed the Silver Country, will appear there.

And there, the principal sustains a major injury.

From that moment, those who entered the demon realm began to move in earnest.

Demons and the Demon King.

They start to move to invade in earnest.

'Somehow, during the exchange battle.'

They had to be stopped.